Guidelines / Mailing Instructions / Previous Winners 2009 WINNERS' LIST
Winner: Opulent Hunger, Opulent Rage by Leslie McGrath, Stonington, CT
Finalists:
We Call This Thing Between Us Love by Jason Mott, Bolton, NC
In the Cathedral Soul of the World by Pamela Porter, Sindey, BC (Canada)
The Fourth Paradise by V.P. Loggins, Annapolis, MD
Piece by Piece by Cynthia Veach, Manchester, MA
Bone Key Elegies by Danielle Sellers, Easley, SC
Stranger in Congers by Harry Waitzman, Congers, NY
Commotion of Wings by Colette Tennant, Salem, OR
Dear Truth by Paul Hostovsky, Medfield, MA
Transister Rodeo by Jon Wilkins, Santa Fe, NM
Sin for Beginners by Holly Woodward, Hoboken, NJ
Sex, Religion, Groceries by Sally Fisher, New York, NY
Because the primary purpose for our contest is to select manuscripts for publication, SOME of the finalists will be offered publication and we will make a list of those who accept our publication offer vavailable for advance orders as soon as we work out details with the authors and have them up in the The MSR Online Bookstore as soon as possible for advance sales. .
NEXT DEADLINE:
January 31, 2010
Reading Fee: $20/entry, $25 for those who want to receive a copy of the winning book.****Notification in April for Winter 2009/2010 publication. ****
Winner receives 50 books and $1000. Runners up also considered for publication.
Send between 48 and 84 pages of poetry, no more than one poem per page, 12 point type in an easily readable font like Arial or Times New Roman. Do not include Table of Contents in page count and print/submit on a letter size sheet of paper.
Include a separate cover letter with manuscript title, author's name, and all pertinent contact information. Author’s name should not appear anywhere in manuscript.
Our goal is "blind" judging. Do Not Include Dedication and/or Credits/Acknowledgements Pages in entry. For the purpose of fairness, it is important that judges know as little about the author as possible and these pages are not relevant to the judging process. In the past, if these items accidentally slipped through registration, readers were instructed to disqualify manuscripts that arrive with credits, acknowledgements, or author's name on them anywhere. This year we have changed that rule. Since our primary goal for the MSR Poetry Book Award is to select manuscripts for publication, we will no longer disqualify those who blatantly disregard the rules. They can't win, but they will still be considered for publication.
For notification of receipt, entries can include a post card, but if they include an email address, we will send a verification of receipt via email the day it arrives. Entries should include a #10 SASE ( This is a standard business size: 4 X 10) for winner notification if they do not choose to be notified by email. Please not not waste postage on a 9 X 12 since no manuscripts will be returned regardless of what size envelope is provided.
No restriction on content style or subject--we're looking for the best manuscript.
*Although MSR frowns on simultaneous submissions for our magazine, it is acceptable for our book contests. Upon notification, however, winner must immediately withdraw his/her mss from consideration elsewhere.
All checks should be made payable to Main Street Rag, PO BOX 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001.
We recommend using US Postal Service Media Mail (within the US), but that takes longer to arrive, so DO NOT send it Media Mail if you are mailing it on or near the deadline. Why? because we distribute the LAST manuscripts to first round readers on February 8. Anything that has not arrived by the day before (February 7) will be excluded and the check returned in the SASE (if one has been provided--otherwise, it will be shredded).
DO NOT use clips or binding of any kind. We have THOUSANDS of clips here from years of submissions and we remove anything that comes in a binder and throw away the binder. If you want to pay for a binder and the shipping to get it here only to have it thrown away, that's your choice. It will not go to any readers in a binder of any kind.
DO NOT send anything that must be signed for (Signature Receipt or Express Mail) since it means having to stand in line to receive it (and we won't).
Contest Recommendations
Previous Winners (and authors selected for publication):
2008 Winner: Roy Seeher, Aiken, SC for his collection, The Boy Whose Hands Were Birds which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
Others that have been (or will be) published as result of this contest: The Almost Sound of Drowning by Joan Bauer, Pittsburgh, PA; The Fire in Which We Burn by Dennis Stiles, Charleston, SC; How Sound Carries Over Water by Brenda Graham, Denver, NC; Late News from the Wilderness by Elinor Benedict, Naples, FL; My Career in the Secret Mission Service by Tim Walsh, Madison, WI; The Orpheus Complex by Leonard Kress, Perrysburg, OH; When the Stars Go Dark by Jim McGarrah, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Bending the Notes by Paul Hostovsky, Medfield, MA; Howling on Red Dirt Roads by Sarah Claytor, Carrboro, NC; The Relentlessness of Salvation by Robert Parham, Augusta, GA; Ways to Reshape the Heart by P.V. LeForge, Grand Ridge, FL; The Words We Used by Robert Cooperman, Denver, CO.
2007 Winner: Heather Davis, Front Royal, VA for her collection, The Lost Tribe of Us which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
Others that have been (or will be) published as result of this contest: Apparition Wren by Maureen Alsop (Palm Springs, CA), Deadpan by K.A. Holt (Fort Worth, TX), The Dream of Leaving by Sharon Leiter (Palmyra, VA), The Flower Sermon by David Manning (Cary, NC), Living in Free Fall by Jan Wesley (Austin, TX), Riding Free in the Blue Studebaker by Janell Moon (Emeryville, CA), Tongue and Groove by Chuck Rybak (Oneida, WI) and The Death of the Poem and other paragraphs by Justin Courter (Astoria, NY)
2006 Winner: Jennifer K. Sweeney, San Francisco, CA for her collection, Salt Memory which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
Also published as part of this contest: First runner up Neil Carpathios of Massilon, OH (Playground of Flesh), Pam Crow of Portland, OR (Inside This House), Penelope Scambly Schott of Portland, OR (May the Generations Die in the Right Order), Patrick Carrington of Wildwood Crest, NJ (Rise, Fall and Acceptance), Terry Wolverton of Los Angeles, CA (Shadow and Praise), Indigo Moor of Rancho Cordova, CA(Tap-root), Randall Horton of Chicago, IL(The Definition of Place) and Jessica Sampley of Arley, AL(Tuscaloosa to Tupelo).
2005 Winner: Jay Griswold, N. Fort Myers, FL for his collection, Conquistador which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
Also published as part of this contest: First runner up Mary Christine Delea for her book, The Skeleton Holding Up the Sky and Mark Smith-Soto for his book Any Second Now.
2004 Winner: Jim Ferris, Verona, WI for his collection, The Hospital Poems which is available in the MSR Bookstore. This book was also named a finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters Natalie Ornish Best Book of Poetry Award for 2004.
Also published as part of this contest: First runner up Cathryn Essinger for her book, My Dog Does Not Read Plato and Heather Smith for her book Each End of the World.
2003 Winner: Matt Morris, Elkview, WV for his collection, Nearing Narcoma which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
2002 Winner: Pam Bernard, Boston, MA for her collection, Across The Dark which is available in the MSR Bookstore.
***Early Bird Special***
For those who read all the way down the page!!!We will accept emailed submissions between September 30 and January 15. Please contact us first to request and read email submission guidelines before sending manuscript or making payment.
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